Community volunteers make the reading connection with kids

In Nate Rice and Frank Schneider's classrooms, students are making community connections through books, helping other students read, and - best of all - reaching for books in their down time.

While some students had been reading on their own, many others needed motivation to open a book. Rice and Schneider appealed to the Petoskey Education Association, which offered a grant. The two teachers bought books, and started three key programs to use them.

"We consider the programs in addition to the curriculum," Schneider said. "But the programs have affected all areas of our curriculum - for the better."

The three programs - Reading Friends, Frequent Readers and a partnership with the Patricia A. Taylor School For Exceptional Learners - were started before Christmas vacation 2003. They were created with the idea that reading helps all areas of comprehension.

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"When we started thinking about what we could do to help students, we asked ourselves, 'What's going to make the biggest difference overall?'" Rice said. "We knew that reading lends itself to general education."

Reading with friends

Throughout each week, community volunteers head to Petoskey Middle School to read with kids.

"They're not tutoring," Rice said. "They're sharing their interest for reading. We find that kids pick up on that interest."

The "reading friends" make their own schedule with the kids, and offer only a few minutes per week. But often, those few minutes turn into many.

"We have volunteers coming back after 50 minutes," Schneider said. "They bring the kid back into the classroom and say, 'Sorry, but they just wanted to talk about their book.' We say, 'That's great!'"

The reading friends sit with students while they read a book. They may bring their own book to read, or the student may want to read together. Sometimes, they spend their time talking about books. Regardless of what they do, books are the main focus. And according to Schneider, something in that formula is making kids better students.

"One student was at a primary reading level last year, and is up to third-grade this year," he said. "It makes a big difference."

The kids have also raised their reading test scores 1.8 grade levels, compared to last year.

"That is really something to me," Rice said.

An added bonus of the program is goal setting.

"The cornerstone of the program is for the volunteers to ask kids to set a goal," Rice said. "They can say, 'How many pages do you think you can read before you see me next?' And they see how the kid did each time, and share what they read. Or, they share why the student couldn't meet that goal."

More volunteers are needed for the Reading Friends program. For more information, contact Rice at 348-2276.

Reading on their own

There's nothing like a little incentive to get kids moving. That's the idea behind Frequent Readers, a program that rewards students for reading on their own time.

"It gets them to read outside these walls with someone or to someone," Schneider said. "With mom or dad, grandma or grandpa. Sometimes they come to school and tell us that they read to their younger brother or sister."

With prizes like 15 minutes of free time, movie tickets, skipped assignments and even Wal-Mart gift cards, students log reading minutes at home.

"We're surprised at how many of them do it," Schneider said. "Sometimes I have to tell them to put their books away, because they're so into what they're reading."

Reading to others

The students show off their reading skills each Thursday morning, when they head to the Patricia A. Taylor School for Exceptional Learners.

At the school, the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders hunker down with 4-year-old preschoolers to share stories. The middle schoolers read, the preschoolers listen. Rice and Schneider said they're amazed at their students' patience and abilities.

"Kids who are rowdy in class or who don't want to listen will sit down with these 4-year-olds and nurture them," Schneider said. "It's really something to see how they become teachers."

The students practice reading beforehand and learn ways to engage the preschoolers in the stories.

"They read the title and ask the kids what they think the book might be about," Rice said. "They model what they've learned; what they've seen us do.

"That's how we know these programs are working. The kids want to read, and they like reading to others. Their grades are going up and their comprehension is better. And the programs are only the beginning."